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Research dossier · Places & Architecture

Wijde Bay Formation

geologic formation on the island of Spitzbergen, Svalbard

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 2, 2025
Entity authorityQ17515221 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Wijde Bay Formation is a geologic formation exposed on the island of Spitzbergen, Svalbard, Norway. It preserves fossils dating back to the Givetian stage of the Devonian period. It was originally known as the "Wijdefjorden Series" or the "Wijde Bay Series".

See also

List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Norway

References

Various Contributors to the Paleobiology Database. "Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database". Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2014.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Wijde Bay Formation” as geologic formation on the island of Spitzbergen, Svalbard. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Wijde, Formation and geologic.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2022, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Wijde, Formation and geologic providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Wijde Bay Formation”, the useful work is to connect “geologic formation on the island of Spitzbergen, Svalbard” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 2, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q17515221. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2022 and 2014.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Wijde Bay Formation”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Wijde Bay Formation primary sources, Wijde Bay Formation archive and Wijde research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Wijde Bay Formation”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Wijde Bay Formation” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.